the u.s. house of representatives committee on foreign affairs will hold a hearing on thursday, december 20 on the benghazi attacke. secretary clinton will be testifying. c-span will cover this on thursday at 1:00 p.m. eastern time. c-span cameras will be there. front page of the national journal this morning -- on tuesday he delivered the gop talking points about the need for more spending cuts as part of any deal, while downplaying the role of raising income-tax rates on wealthier earners, which the white house trumpets often. boosting rates on the rich, he said, would provide enough money to run the government for eight days. that has nothing to do with spending, getting spending in line. other than performing requisite task, mitch mcconnell has not emerged as a huge presence in the ongoing fiscal cliff narrative. that is a change from past budget and tax deals where his finger prints were evident, a fact that could affect the final outcome or subtlety of the deal. that the national journal